Look what you made me do: the Ukrainian singer Anastasia Prikhodko, disqualified from performing for her home country, represented Russia at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest.

The Tortured Musicians Department

Vladimir Putin is resurrecting a Soviet-era, Eurovision-like competition—and crushing musicians’ dissent

By Andrew Ryvkin

This May, the fabulously camp Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden. Russia will, once again, not be taking part. It has been banned from the contest since invading Ukraine, in 2022. However, this year the Kremlin has promised its own rival musical event: Intervision.

Intervision isn’t Putin’s invention. A competition by the same name appeared sporadically throughout the Cold War, calling on acts from the Eastern Bloc and its allies. But with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia and some of its former colonies were allowed to join the European Broadcasting Union, and hence become contestants at Eurovision.